The Kid and I
by BloodInkLilacQuill
Summary: A one-shot of a moral and ethical battle between Harry and a very familiar situation. Dudley's newly orphaned kid to be exact. What will he decide? ONE-SHOT  Occurs long after deathly hallows. Mentions of wife Ginny and children.


**I would like to thank Victoria,** **Wrackspurt07 a****nd Sparkeee for reviewing, THANK YOU VICTORIA! THANK YOU SPARKEEE! THANK YOU WRACKSPURT07 FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND REVIEW! This story is slightly OOC but not too badly I think (just think of the stress he's ****under). **

**Deadlyninjabee, you made me blush, literally I think Im blushing, your just so sweet thank you! Made my week with your words, you really did. Ill be sure to pm you when the sequel is completed.  
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**Bluerock 7 I cannot answer that yet, as it would definitely defeat the purpose of the sequel!  
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**MotherBear1975, I might consider turning it into a little bit of a longer story, maybe with one-shots of the rest of their relationship or something like that.. Ill think on it :)**

**Teufel1987 ****Repeated twice? That was my mistake, I meant replace but clicked add instead out of habit, lol Thanks for the spellcheck on Vernon, as you see, I have corrected it :D**

**Terrance Endsley um... thank you on reviewing my story... even if it was just to say it was unworthy of being reviewed...**

** Also, this is a one-shot so please, people why are you adding this to your alerts list? I think you meant to add to faves, which, is so sweet! Otherwise you've stumped me... I just don't get it... one or two I understand but its like, seven?  
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**I am making a sequel, in the kids POV, it will be posted soon (prob around March break to be honest and will be a one-shot on its own). Anyways, thank you all for reading! And onto the story!**

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Harry looked at the child he had just signed for. Mixed emotions fought for control, at one point he had been there, an orphan, dropped off at an uncles' doorstep. Well in this case he had to drive four hours to get to the doorstep. It could be only temporary, he could take care of the kid until someone else could be found, he didn't owe anything to the Dursleys after all, and in reverse situations, when Harry had been given to them, they had been found lacking in both care and support. Ginny flatly refused to allow the child to stay in the muggle-governments' care a moment more then had to be done but certainly someone else could be found to care for the child. Without a word he opened the car door for the kid and shut it after the kid climbed in. Then he sat in the drivers seat and started the car. Driving out of the parking lot there was more tension in that car then in a bank robbery.

His wife Ginny had said that perhaps Dudley had changed and become a better person since the last time they had met. Harry was skeptical, he had gone to his Aunts' funeral a few months back and Dudley had been just the same brat as he had always been. Ginny had seemed to read his thoughts because she wagged a finger in his face 'he was mourning his dead mother, you can't blame him for that!' oh but he did, he blamed Dudley for much, Vernon for more and Petunia, well he just pitied that her hatred for her sister Lilly, his mother, had taken all the good from her, whether the hatred was from green envy that she had not inherited powers or from just pure hatred he did not care. Harry turned onto the highway, looking in the rear-view mirror at the solemn child sitting in the middle.

"Seat-belt, don't make me tell you again." It was the first thing he'd ever said to the kid. He had not known Dudley was married, so him having a child had been a surprise, Dudley had not said anything at the funeral and no wife had been around. The child looked about five years old, the funeral had been about three years ago so it wasn't as if it had been before the child was born. At the funeral, Dudley had been his usual ignorant self and had even attempted to break Harry's wand in two and made passes at Ginny who was at the time seven months pregnant. It was no surprise that Harry had left with Ginny directly after the services and refused to attend Vernon's funeral some months later. He hadn't even mentioned it to Ginny, he knew she would just talk him into going. He had attempted to do the same for Dudley when he had received the call in the middle of the night but his eldest son, who had developed a habit of listening on the other phone, and blurted the news with 'Who's Dudley and why is he dead?" Ginny was not pleased.

It had been a week since the accident that had taken the child's parents away. Ironically it had been a car accident, much like the accident Petunia and Vernon had told him had taken his very own parents away from him. Harry had a thought, a flash, of seeing the child live in their basement, locked in there whenever he was no longer useful. Of heavy chores that took all day to complete. It was a delicious thought for a moment, getting back all the revenge from all of those years, but then he looked once more at the child in the rear-view mirror, so frightened, so nervous, no he would not become his uncle, not even for revenge, how could he ever do that to a child?

So he would not treat the child badly, that does not mean he had to treat the child well or pretend to like it. He turned off the highway on the next exit.

One thing was for sure, the kid was definitely a Dursley, with Petunia's long neck which she had used for looking over fences, and both Vernon's and Dudley's whale-like figure. Pretty eyes though, a clear blue in color. Definitely the first thing Harry would have to do was put the kid on a diet. If the child stayed that long, of course. No belongings had been brought with the kid, they were still being packed and would be sent later. Harry did not know much about the crash, had the kid been somewhere in the car? Glancing up again he saw the kid fidgeting in the back, seat-belt now done up.

He turned down his driveway, the dirt road making the only noise to be heard as they approached the house. So, was he going to be warm with this kid or not, was he going to keep this kid or not. Ginny came out, on her fourth month with their third child. They were hoping for a girl this time, both of his sons stood side by side in front of their mother. It was a picture-perfect moment he loved coming home to everyday. He tried to imagine the kid in the picture, but couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. He turned off the engine then turned to the kid. "Are you ready to come in then?"

"No thanks, you hate me." He craned his neck to get a better and clearer view of the kid. "You think my neck is scrawny like my nosy grandma and I have a whale figure like my daddy. Whats wrong with that, I like whales."

"How do you know that?" Asked Harry.

"You've been talking to yourself the entire ride here." Oops.

"I hadn't realized," Harry said turning in his seat so he could better face the kid. "I don't hate you, I don't hate your family and I apologize for saying those things."

"So what have you decided?" The kid was nothing if not direct, where did that trait come from?

"You'll stay and I will treat you as I would another son of mine. I will treat you well and I think when you grow up you will believe any punishments I may have dealt you to have been fair and just." Harry smiled evilly. "But you will probably hate me until then."

"That's better then I expected, Father never lied about your history, he told me everything. I expected some sort of vendetta from your childhood to come back and bite me. That you will try and treat me fairly just shows that you are a better person." He wasn't sure that it made him a better person but he was still surprised that Dudley would even be speaking about him to the kid, and what kid uses the word 'Vendetta' in a sentence? The kid opened the door to the car to get out, but paused.

"By the way I'm eight and one half not_ five_." The kid said _five _as though it were the dirtiest word imaginable, visibly shuddering as though a slimy frog had slid down his back at that exact moment. "And I am not 'fat' I'm big-boned and lazy, that's why I'm wearing every shirt I own rather then carry the heavy bag." The kid got out of the car and into Ginny's arms, for a moment they seemed one big happy family, all smiles, all talking, they entered the house, Harry seemed forgotten still sitting, in shock, inside the car.

Yes, he could definitely see this kid in the family. With the decision to make it work, he opened the car door and stepped out into the night air.

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**It was just an idea bopping around in my head, I dunno do you like? Please take the ten seconds of your time, that will make the next 24 hours of my day, and review!  
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_**~Delaney's Kid**_


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